---
title: "The court has built a great deal of prestige, and I think is generall… — William Rehnquist Quote #14 | QuotesBy.net"
description: "The court has built a great deal of prestige, and I think is generally quite well thought of as a public institution in the country. It is always pos… — a quote by William Rehnquist."
image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png"
---

> # The court has built a great deal of prestige, and I think is generally quite well thought of as a public institution in the country. It is always possible for the court to overreach its proper bounds and perhaps declare a lot of laws unconstitutional and frustrate the will of the majority in a way that it ought not be frustrated. In that sense, it poses a danger, but not the same sort of perhaps very active danger that a run-away Congress or runaway executive would.

[William Rehnquist](https://quotesby.net/William-Rehnquist)\#14[WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)](https://wa.me/?text=%E2%80%9CThe%20court%20has%20built%20a%20great%20deal%20of%20prestige%2C%20and%20I%20think%20is%20generally%20quite%20well%20thought%20of%20as%20a%20public%20institution%20in%20the%20country.%20It%20is%20always%20possible%20for%20the%20court%20to%20overreach%20its%20proper%20bounds%20and%20perhaps%20declare%20a%20lot%20of%20laws%20unconstitutional%20and%20frustrate%20the%20will%20of%20the%20majority%20in%20a%20way%20that%20it%20ought%20not%20be%20frustrated.%20In%20that%20sense%2C%20it%20poses%20a%20danger%2C%20but%20not%20the%20same%20sort%20of%20perhaps%20very%20active%20danger%20that%20a%20run-away%20Congress%20or%20runaway%20executive%20would.%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20William%20Rehnquist%20https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FWilliam-Rehnquist%2F14%2F)[X (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%E2%80%9CThe%20court%20has%20built%20a%20great%20deal%20of%20prestige%2C%20and%20I%20think%20is%20generally%20quite%20well%20thought%20of%20as%20a%20public%20institution%20in%20the%20country.%20It%20is%20always%20possible%20for%20the%20court%20to%20overreach%20its%20proper%20bounds%20and%20perhaps%20declare%20a%20lot%20of%20laws%20unconstitutional%20and%20frustrate%20the%20will%20of%20the%20majority%20in%20a%20way%20that%20it%20ought%20not%20be%20frustrated.%20In%20that%20sense%2C%20it%20poses%20a%20danger%2C%20but%20not%20the%20same%20sort%20of%20perhaps%20very%20active%20danger%20that%20a%20run-away%20Congress%20or%20runaway%20executive%20would.%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20William%20Rehnquist&url=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FWilliam-Rehnquist%2F14%2F)[Facebook (opens in a new tab)](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FWilliam-Rehnquist%2F14%2F)

## More from William Rehnquist

1. > Perhaps you should say there should be mandatory retirement even of members of the court, members of the federal judiciary. I'm sure there can be questions abo…

[Permalink to quote \#13](https://quotesby.net/William-Rehnquist/13/ "Permalink to quote 13")
2. > \[On writing:\] Well, it's just a sense of personal satisfaction. Just like taking a good photograph or painting a picture or playing a good golf game or somethi…

[Permalink to quote \#15](https://quotesby.net/William-Rehnquist/15/ "Permalink to quote 15")
3. > If you could say of any one individual that the court as an institution is the length and shadow of that individual, surely it would be John Marshall.

[Permalink to quote \#12](https://quotesby.net/William-Rehnquist/12/ "Permalink to quote 12")

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